Calgarians are left without internet, phone after second wire break

Residents in more than two dozen inner-city communities were without internet and phone service Tuesday as Rogers downed its fiber network.

The company first reported the problems around 5:20 a.m. Two hours later, it said the outage was caused by a “fiber cut caused by vandalism.”

“Some customers in north Calgary may experience disruptions to internet, TV and home phone service due to fiber outages caused by vandalism and copper wire theft,” a company spokesperson told CityNews. “We are liaising with local authorities and have technical teams on site to restore services as quickly as possible. We apologize to customers affected by this outage.”

Customers in Balmoral, Brentwood, Bridgeland Riverside, Capitol Hill, Charleswood, Collingwood, Crescent Heights, Hillhurst, Mayfair, Mountview, Mount Pleasant, National, North Haven, Renfrew, Rosemont, Sunnyside and Tuxedo Park will be affected.

Rogers says about 5,000 customers were affected.

Repairing a damaged line typically takes eight to 12 hours, Rogers said, but the company adds that vandalism-related outages take longer to repair than other types of outages, depending on the extent of the damage and associated repairs.

This This is the second such incident in Calgary this month; On May 6, several customers in the northern part of the city were disrupted by vandalism and an attempt to steal copper wire.

Rogers previously told CityNews that vandalism outages are increasing at a rapid rate year over year, and that the company has experienced a more than four- to fivefold increase in vandalism-related outages since 2022.

Customers are advised to check the website or app for the latest outage information in their area.

Rogers says Canadian Telecommunications Security Advisory Committee (CSTAC) Citizens are requested to contact law enforcement agencies in case of witnessing acts of burning, vandalism and theft of telecommunication networks.

Rogers is the parent company of CityNews.